To our friends in the fight against the expansion of the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC):
From Hiroshima, where the atomic bomb was dropped and where I fight for the elimination of all things nuclear, I would like to send a message of respect and solidarity for your courageous actions in the fight against the strengthening and expansion of nuclear weapons facilities, which are the cornerstone of US nuclear policy.
The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima on August 6 and on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people were immediately massacred, and those who survived suffered post-radiation sickness, severe hardship, and a slow death.
For 79 years, we have fought for the elimination of all things nuclear, bearing the heavy burden of seemingly endless death and human suffering.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons condemned nuclear weapons as inhumane weapons internationally and morally, and their use was prohibited under international law. Even though the governments of the United States and Japan continue to reject the ban treaty, it is clear that nuclear weapons are weapons that will lead to the genocide of all humanity and destroy the planet.
It is unacceptable for the United States to expand its capabilities in order to further strengthen the development of nuclear weapons that would facilitate nuclear war. We stand in solidarity with your sit-ins and nonviolent actions.
The nuclear issue is not a one-nation problem, but a problem of all nations. The development of nuclear weapons has caused tremendous damage at every stage; from the extraction of uranium to milling and enrichment, nuclear weapons production, nuclear testing, and nuclear war, as well as accidents caused by nuclear power generation and the disposal of high-level radioactive waste.
The military and commercial use of nuclear energy created by science is now bringing about the worst era, which will destroy humanity and the Earth. Regardless of national borders, it is the unarmed civilians, Indigenous peoples, children and women who will become the victims.
Our ancestors in Hiroshima fought for a nuclear-free world with the belief that “nuclear cannot coexist with humankind.” We, who live in the present, have an obligation to take over and protect all living things and the earth. Nuclear-armed states such as Russia and Israel threaten to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine and Palestine. We must end the war and genocide right now.
Humankind must survive.
Let’s fight together.
For a nuclear-free future! For a world without war! To immediately end the genocide!
Haruko Moritaki
Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA)
This message was sent to Ann Suellentrop by Haruko Moritaki, written April 6, 2024, after Ann had visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Haruko wrote to express appreciation for the coming April 15, 2024, protest of nuclear weapons production work at the Kansas City National Security Campus. Haruko organized the “World Nuclear Victims Forum” in Hiroshima and is planning to host another forum in 2025 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing, while battling terminal cancer. See related story on the Kansas City, MO, Aug. 4 event, Remember Hiroshima & Nagasaki, https://peaceworkskc.org/remember-hiroshima-nagasaki/.
